


An Unwilling Adventure (Kidnapping): Starring Lance

by Silvaniuous



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: :), Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Humorous situation, Hurt/Comfort, I'll come back later, I'm not really sure what to tag this as, Keith angst, Kissing, Little bit of Langst but not much, M/M, Mutual Pining, Pining Keith (Voltron), Pining Lance (Voltron), Poison, Sick Character, Sick Lance (Voltron), Sickfic, Sleepy Cuddles, Violence, cuddlying, fluff again, kissing a lot, oh wait I know!, the good stuff, yeah - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-24
Updated: 2019-02-10
Packaged: 2019-07-01 20:48:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15781839
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Silvaniuous/pseuds/Silvaniuous
Summary: When confronting Keith in a hallway, Lance attempts to dissuade him from running away from the team. Little does he know, there's a lot more to the story.Keith, instead of rationally and calming talking it out with Lance, instead panics and decides to kidnap him rather than face confrontation.Keith doesn't like this situation, Lance doesn't like this situation, but both are in it together so how's this gonna resolve?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> SETTING IS WEIRD PLEASE READ
> 
> Ok so like, I'm master of stupid and confusing timelines alright?
> 
> So Keith is back from the blade of morons and is black paladin right now. Shiro is still a clone though. No lotor is present. Just,,, just,,, deal with it I promise its a cool story I'm sorry
> 
> ALSO, THIS FIC IS INSPIRED BY THIS VIDEO BY CELLYFISH PLEASE WATCH:  
> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8JNDXPX9AaE

Lance was awake.

Well, not really. Half awake more like. Why was he awake?

Something fell and clattered in the room next door over. 

Now Lance had three questions: Why was Keith awake, how dare he wake Lance up, and what was he doing in his room?

Whatever Keith was doing, he wasn’t doing it subtly.

A door opened and shut. Some feet gently stepped by his own door before walking briskly away. 

“Keith?” Lance mumbled into his pillow.

His eyes opened slowly and he glanced around his dark room. He slid out of bed like a snail before slowly clambering to his feet, dragging his blanket with him. Stepping out into the hallway, Lance caught a glimpse of a familiar mullet turning the corner.

His heart sunk and twisted into his gut. Keith was fully armored up, with a bag around his shoulders, walking away, late at night. Everything about this situation screamed suspicious. Keith had just recently come back from the Blade of Marmora and finally decided to be the Black Paladin again, to Lance’s relief, but was he going back all of the sudden?

Lance frowned and shook his head, electing to follow Keith. His blanket trailed behind him like a cape. He kept his footsteps silent as he followed Keith through the castles, eventually ending up at the hangers. 

Now was the time to speak up. There was no maybe about this anymore. Keith was leaving.

“Keith.”

Keith froze in his tracks. His bag slipped off his shoulder and abruptly fell to the ground. Keith, wide-eyed, turned very slowly to look at Lance over his shoulder. His face was filled with fear.

Lance found it somewhat humorous that Keith could ever look that scared of Lance. His amusement slipped away quickly when he remembered the situation. Keith was scared because he was caught. Caught running away. Again.

“Are you leaving Keith?” Lance said this quietly, but it echoed in the chamber. 

Lance stared patiently. He wondered if Keith had the balls to answer his question.

Keith turned around fully, his face hardening. Keith frowned and looked down as if thinking something through before looking at Lance again. He slowly approached Lance and extended his arms in a placating manner. He looked like he was trying to calm Lance down, but Lance wanted an answer first.

“Keith. You should really explain yourself before you take another step.”

Keith did not stop, however. He instead walked at an even slower pace.

“Ok, Lance. I know what this looks like. But-”

“But nothing! Don’t even try to lie to me! I know what you’re doing. You’re running back to the Blade of Marmora aren’t you?”

Keith stopped at that. His brows furrowed for a second before his face settled in a neutral expression.

Lance scowled deeply. His arms lifted and he dropped the blanket. Clenching his fists in frustration, Lance started to raise his voice.

“I thought, I thought this was working out Keith! I thought you were doing a good job. I thought you were gaining confidence or whatever. I thought I was helping! Are you still attached to the Blade or something? Why? You almost-”

Lance didn’t finish that statement because Keith was suddenly very close to Lance. 

“Um… Keith?”

Keith looked conflicted but quickly blurted out,

“I’m sorry for this!” 

Keith’s hands shot out, and he grabbed both of Lance’s hands. Twisting them behind Lance’s back, he pulled out some kind of handcuffs and tied them quickly. Where had the handcuffs come from?

“What the fuck! Keith what the fuck are you doing?” Lance tugged on the restraints before promptly attempting to kick Keith.

Keith pulled quickly and pushed on Lance’s knee with his leg. Lance fell on his butt and let a grunt before whirling around in an attempt to catch Keith’s face with his foot.

Keith dodged to the right of it and grabbed it mid-air. Pulling out a second pair of handcuffs, Keith quickly attached Lance’s two legs together.

Lance shrieked in frustration and begin calling for help. Something red flashed by his face and his eyes focused on Keith’s old bandana. 

Keith was attempting to gag Lance. 

Lance was having none of that!

As Keith pulled down to tie the bandana, Lance savagely bit his hand. Keith reared back as Lance spit out some blood.

Keith cursed before lifting Lance up. He struggled against Keith’s grip, he opened his mouth to scream for help when Keith shoved the bandana in. He tied it quickly and threw Lance over his shoulder.

He broke out in a run and grabbed his bag. Turning quickly, he suddenly shifted courses and reached down to grab Lance’s blanket. A swift ninety-degree turn left Lance swinging around on his back and he screamed into the gag. It wasn’t very loud, but at this point Lance just wanted Keith to know how furious he was.

“I’m sorry! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry shit-”

Keith whirled around again and bounced Lance on his shoulder as he jumped up the steps to the Black Lion. His shoulder dug into Lance’s stomach and Lance let out a grunt in response. Keith climbed up the Black Lion’s maw and turned abruptly to face the cockpit. He tossed his bag onto the floor and gently set Lance down near the back.

A mistake on his part. 

As soon as Keith turned around, Lance lept into action. He rolled over onto his stomach and attempted to shuffle his way forward.

Keith quickly sat down at the pilot’s chair and started up the Black Lion. He opened up the hanger.

Lance decided to go after Keith’s bag, assuming he had a knife in it Lance could use. He crawled over like a caterpillar before ripping open the bag. He surveyed its contents carefully. 

It had food and water. That’s it.

Lance, thoroughly fucked, let out a muffled scream into the gag. 

Apparently, it was loud enough for Keith to notice and he turned around in the chair to check on Lance. He stood, shocked, and grabbed Lance around the middle.

“Can’t you just stay still for five fucking seconds?”

Lance gave him a glare that could kill, and muffled out something that sounded like an elaborate string of curses directed at Keith.

Keith ignored him and pushed him towards the back again. Black, on auto-pilot, lifted himself out of the hanger, sliding the two back.

Keith stumbled and fell onto his face, while Lance used this as an opportunity to shuffle on top of him in a futile attempt to hold him there.

Keith huffed in frustration before flipping around and shoving Lance off of him. Black sped forward and they slid further back. Keith lifted himself to his feet and grabbed the handcuffs wrapped around Lance’s feet.

Dragging Lance, he attached the handcuffs to a third set before attaching that pair to the wall. 

Satisfied, he dusted his hands off mockingly before glaring and turning towards the front again. He sat down, unaware to the invisible knifes Lance was throwing at him with his eyes.

Lance assessed the situation. Keith’s bag was full of food and water. Keith was leaving the castle in the middle of the night. Lance caught him and Keith responded by kidnapping him.

Lance screamed into the bandana again before throwing his head back on the ground in frustration. Keith winced but didn’t turn around.

Lance’s feet were attached to the wall with another handcuff. The handcuff was attached to a small pole which was probably a handle or something. He tugged and the cabinet opened. It was empty which was just so fucking helpful.

Half of his body was still on the ground. He was shaped in an L formation, with his legs lifted up.

He attempted to sit up and raise himself off the floor. No good.

He attempted to pull the cabinet off the wall. Also no good.

So now Lance was stuck on the floor in Black’s cockpit with no obvious signs of escaping.

He sighed and shut his eyes. He relaxed his body and went through his resources.

Keith turned in his chair to peer at Lance, seemingly hearing his defeated sigh.

Ah, perfect. Keith was a resource. After extensive studying, Lance had determined that Keith was actually a big old fucking softy that couldn’t stand Lance’s begging strategies for long. He knew this would be an advantage one day. 

Lance directed his eyes to peer at Keith’s and attempted his best rendition of puppy dog eyes. He even whined a little into the gag, but he wasn’t sure if Keith could hear it.

Keith scowled, his eyebrows twitching. His face twisted some more before he sighed and stood up. He walked over to his bag while Lance silently celebrated his victory in his head.

Shuffling over to the bag, he reached down and pulled out not a knife, as Lance was hoping, but instead the blanket.

Walking over to Lance, he reached out and threw the blanket over Lance’s body. It settled down over most of the length of him and Keith tugged it around his shoulder. He then, very sweetly Lance might add, tucked Lance into the blanket fully.

“Listen, I know this sucks, but just wait a bit okay? Once we get far enough from the castle, I’ll stop and we can talk about this okay. Just try to sleep until then.”

Lance glared at him.

Keith looked like he was expecting that and ignored him, instead pulling out a pillow from the side compartments to slip under Lance’s head.

Once he finished surveying Lance’s position, he turned away and settled in the front again.

Lance sighed and attempted to make himself as comfortable as he could with half of his body suspended a couple inches off the floor.

It was going to be a long fucking night wasn’t it.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is getting real tired of this whole prisoner thing.

 

Despite everything, Lance actually did get some sleep that night.

 

However, the idea of sleeping on the floor with your feet suspended a couple inches off the ground was a terrible, terrible idea. Lance wearily opened his eyes, yawned, smacked his lips, and then immediately noticed that his entire body hurt. 

 

His back ached from the hard floor of the cockpit and while his legs were numb they were still somehow painful. Their stretched position above the floor left his muscles sore, stiff, and cramped. He wasn’t even going to attempt to move them for a while. All the blood was out of his legs and he felt pins and needles rapidly running up and down them.

 

He groaned and shifted to the side. He blinked a bit and noticed that the gag was out of his mouth and delicately placed beside his head. 

 

Absolutely offended at the sight of it, Lance furiously grabbed it with his teeth and attempted to fling it dramatically across the room. His rage fueled the toss, but it landed innocently next to his head on the other side. He huffed and attempted to blow the thing away, when he noticed Keith curled up next to him.

 

Keith was wrapped up in his own blanket, presumably from the bed in the back of the ship, with a small pillow squished under his head. His legs were tucked into his chest and his face was soft and relaxed. Lance starred unabashedly. 

 

Keith’s eyes were shut making his eyelashes fanned out over his rosy cheeks. His breaths were small and soft, and Lance unconsciously found himself following his rhythm. He was surprised Keith didn’t snore as he seemed like the type. Lance, positively delighted with this softer side of Keith, accidentally let out a small coo at the sight.

 

He froze.

 

Keith’s nose wrinkled adorably, but he remained asleep.

 

Lance’s face twisted in thought. Why did Keith sleep here? There was a bed in the back. Was he just here to keep an eye on Lance?

 

Oh holy- did he watch Lance sleep? Did Lance snore? Oh god. Lance doubted he looked all that cute with his arms handcuffed beneath his butt. Oh man, Keith probably-

 

Keith shifted in his position and a small flash of something shiny spilled out from beneath his pillow.

 

Lance narrowed his eyes and examined what looked to be a knife from below Keith’s head.

 

This was probably the only chance Lance was going to get if he wanted to escape on his own terms. Slowly, Lance began to shuffle forward. He was at an angle, but he could probably grab the handle with his teeth.

 

He shifted onto his shoulder to get a better angle with his mouth and strained his neck to reach the accursed object. He gently sunk his teeth into the handle and was starting to pull back when Keith’s eyes peered into his.

 

Lance froze.

 

Sleepily, Keith raised a hand to rub at his eyes.

 

“Lance? What are you-”

 

Then Keith seemed to remember the situation and he shot up. Grabbing the handle, he impolitely ripped the knife out of Lance’s mouth.

 

As he sheathed it, Lance shuffled back to his previous position. He glared at Keith before opening his mouth.

 

“Morning Bitch face, you gonna explain the fucking situation now?”

 

Keith raised his eyebrows, unimpressed. He tucked the knife back into his utility belt before sitting up properly.

 

“Nope.” Keith then grabbed the bandana and reached over to wrap it around Lance’s face again.

 

“Wait, no please don’t-”

 

Lance shuffled away from Keith desperately. Keith grabbed his shoulder and forced him up before wrapping the bandana back around his face.

 

That cruel motherfucker.

 

He stood up, and grabbed the blanket he was sleeping with.

 

“Maybe I will when you get a better attitude. Our next stop is in an hour. I’ll consider talking then.”

 

Then the bastard walked away.

 

Lance screamed as loud as he possibly could and furiously wiggled around in an attempt to get any part of his body free. He swore to every god there was that he was gonna choke Keith as soon as his hands were uncuffed.

 

Keith changed out of his casual clothes in the back, and stepped out in his armor to sit in the chair. The Black Lion lifted off and they were moving again.

 

After about 15 minutes, Lance’s legs began to ache deeply. He attempted to bend them to ease the discomfort, but the pain wouldn’t leave him.

 

He whined loudly to grab Keith’s attention.

 

Keith turned and looked at him. Confused, he tried to assess what was wrong. He turned back to the dashboard and pushed the controls for autopilot before standing up and walking towards Lance.

 

Bending down, he untied the gag.

 

“Fuck you, first of all.”

 

Keith rolled his eyes.

 

“Yeah yeah, I get it. What’s wrong.”

 

“Besides the obvious? My legs are cramping and also, I have to use the bathroom.”

 

Keith’s face twisted into a frown. He stood up and moved around the cockpit. He searched through several containers until finding a pole he could attach to the ceiling. He bent below it and opened a small hatch in the floor, revealing a small hole designed for the pole. He extended the pole and connected it to the small opening in the floor.

 

Then he very rudely dragged Lance across the floor and connected his handcuffs (the ones around his hands) to the pole, allowing Lance to sit, stand, or lie on his side. Keith crossed his arms, satisfied.

 

“Well this is great and all, but I still need to use the bathroom.”

 

Keith uncrossed his arms, grabbed Lance, unattached both his handcuffs, and shoved him across the cockpit. Lance nearly tripped and fell on his face at the rough change in tempo, but Keith dragged him back up before he could hit the floor.

 

He pushed Lance into the bathroom and locked the door behind him. 

 

“You have ten minutes to shower, or do whatever you want. Bang on the door when you’re done.”

 

Lance rubbed at his wrists and grumbled under his breath.

 

“Stupid son of a-”

 

“Ten minutes!” Keith called mockingly.

 

A relaxing shower later, Lance stood in a towel and brushed his teeth with a spare he found below the sink. While he was strategizing how he could ambush Keith, he realized that his old pajamas were the only thing he could change into.

 

“Hey Keith! You gotta change of clothes somewhere?”

 

Keith walked over and spoke outside the door,

 

“I mean, not really. Unless you want some of my clothes.”

 

Lance surveyed his options. If he took Keith’s clothes, Keith could accidentally give Lance the utility belt and his knife. On the other hand, they were Keith’s clothes which would probably do funny things to Lance’s heart that he didn’t want to think about. On the other- _ other _ hand, old dirty pajamas were his only other choice and they were definitely going to get hot after a while.

 

“Yeah ok, I’ll take them.”

 

A minute passed before Keith slid the clothes through a crack in the door and walked away, locking it once again.

 

No knife. Keith was smarter than Lance thought.

 

Lance eventually finished and unthinkingly lifted and smelled the shirt. It smelled clean at least, but there was an underlying hint of something burnt that Keith naturally always smelled like.

 

Lance lost himself for a moment before realizing how creepy that action was and lowered the shirt again. He slipped back into his lion slippers and took a step towards the door, banging twice.

 

Twisting around, he angled himself on the wall next to the door so Keith couldn’t see him when he walked in. It wasn't exactly an original plan, but it was the best Lance could come up with.

 

He heard Keith footsteps stop just outside of the door. A moment passed before Keith unlocked the door. A second later, it opened but Keith did not walk inside.

 

Lance sat there, confused, but onto Keith’s strategy. Lance had to leave the room eventually and Keith was counting on it.

 

He controlled his breathing, keeping himself silent so Keith couldn’t hear his position. 

 

Keith gruffly spoke in a low tone of voice, “Lance, exit the bathroom.”

 

A shiver trailed its way down Lance’s back.

 

No one moved.

 

Suddenly, a hand reached in and turned to where Lance was, shooting out and grabbing his shirt before he could react.

 

Keith dragged him out and shoved him against a wall, pinning him there.

 

Lance stood for a second, stunned, before attempting to wrestle his way over and pin Keith.

 

Keith grabbed his hands before they could attach to him and raised them above his head, handcuffing them together. Lance was incredibly impressed, and flustered at Keith’s proximity to him. He stared into Keith’s eyes, breathing deeply, out of breath from the whole affair.

 

Keith stared back for a moment before slowly shuffling back, his hand still gripping Lance’s handcuffs. Tugging Lance’s arms down, Keith was about to start guiding Lance back to the pole when Lance kicked him in the crotch. 

 

Bolting away from Keith’s crumbling form, Lance lept into action and attempted to grab Keith’s knife where it sat nearby.

 

Keith grunted out, “Lance you asshole!” before standing up shakily to follow him.

 

Lance gripped the knife and attempted to cut through the energy holding the handcuffs together. Keith had accidentally handcuffed Lance’s arms in front of himself, making the action a lot easier.

 

“That’s what you get for silencing me for this whole fucking trip!”

 

Now Lance stood, armed and unhandcuffed. The situation seemed in his favor on paper, but Lance knew it wasn’t. He didn’t stand a chance against Keith in hand to hand combat, even though he was armed with a knife. Lance had to figure something out quickly.

 

Black shuddered as the lion entered a planet’s atmosphere. Taking immediate advantage of the situation, Lance ran toward the momentarily distracted Keith and shoved him back. He raced towards the opening of the cockpit and started to make his way towards the jaw. 

 

“Lance wait! You don’t have armor!”

 

Lance made it to the mouth, furiously punching in the commands to open the entrance of the lion. 

 

“Yeah, so?!”

 

“ _ So, _ you’ll die stupid”

 

“I’m stronger than you think I am, I can manage on my own!”

 

“No I don’t mean- Fuck, There’s no air, oxygen!”

 

Lance stopped at this. The cockpit was almost opened, just a few more commands and it would pop. Keith was trapped on the other side of the door to the jaw after Lance locked the door behind him.

 

Lance paused and angled his head towards the door Keith was standing behind.

 

“How, how do I know you’re not bluffing.”

 

Keith didn’t respond. Lance walked up to the door, his hand unsheathing the knife.

 

“Keith, are you bluffing.”

 

“No. Jesus Lance. Are you really going to take a risk when your  _ life _ is at stake?!”

 

Lance didn’t answer, nor did he unlock the door. He turned and rested his back against the wall next to the door and thought about it.

 

There weren’t that many planets with breathable atmospheres in general, so the likeliness of them landing on one was low. That decreases the chance that Keith would have to lie about this situation. But, Keith did set a course for this planet, and he breathes air, which increased the probability of them landing on a planet with air.

 

“I’m calling your bluff.” 

 

Lance started to walk away but froze when he heard Keith’s desperate begging behind the door.

 

“NO! No, Lance no god- oh please don’t do it. Please don’t you’ll die.”

 

Keith’s voice cracked in the middle. Was he crying? No, that was unlikely. He was probably just stressed.

 

Keith rambled on behind the door and Lance debated with himself. He knew Keith cared about his well-being, which made Lance want to believe him. A sick part of Lance also just wanted Keith to stop sounding so distressed and ease his troubles for him.

 

Keith might not be doing the right thing right now, but he was still his friend. He could stand to be kidnapped a little longer.

 

“Alright, I won’t walk out, but I won’t open the door until you promise me some things.”

 

“Yes, ok absolutely.”

 

“No bandana. Burn it. No handcuffs either.”

 

“Lance I- How about no bandana and no handcuffs on your feet?”

 

“No. No handcuffs.”

 

“Please Lance. I can’t let you stop me or have you interfering with-.”

 

“Well then I guess I’m walking out of here.”

 

“NO! No ok- no handcuffs.”

 

“Deal”

 

And Lance opened the door. 

 

Keith immediately tackled him, hugging him close. Lance, startled, didn’t reciprocate for a long time but eventually wrapped his arms around Keith’s shoulder slowly.

 

Keith shifted and sat up. His face was tense and determined.

 

“Ok listen up. Nothing like that can happen ever again. You were this close to dying. No matter how terrible this situation is, we’re both stuck in it. I’m sorry I dragged you into it, but I’m not quite ready to tell you anything about it. That being said, I promise you I will never lie to you, so don’t assume things like that again. I don’t want you to end up dead because you thought I was bluffing.”

 

Lance sat back and stared at Keith for a moment.

 

“Ok. I won’t lie to you either. First truth I’m telling you: I am sick of being your prisoner. Don’t ever pull that kind of bullshit again.”

 

“I can’t promise that.”

 

“Oh you  _ will _ promise that. If you don’t want me “interfering” than no handcuffs and no prisoner schtick. We’re in this together alright? I have your back, willingly. Don’t chain me to your back.”

 

Keith looked determined as he stared back at Lance. A small nod was the only response Lance got before Keith stood up and walked back to the cockpit.

 

Things settled down after that. The atmosphere was still very tense however. Keith started up the Black Lion in silence and they were traveling once again. 

 

Lance sat down near the back and stretched out his legs. Grabbing his old blanket, he wrapped himself up and entertained himself with various theories about what Keith was up to.

 

After a half of an hour, Keith turned to look at him.

 

“Lance, we’re gonna stop-”

 

Keith paused mid-sentence and stared at Lance, his face in a state of shock. He blushed and turned around to face the front again.

 

“What? What’s wrong?”

 

“Nothing, I just, forgot you were wearing my clothes.”

 

Lance raised his eyebrows.

 

“I’ve been wearing them for a while man. How did you miss that? Heck you offered them to me!”

 

“I got distracted by the fight ok?! Shut up!”

 

“Do you want them back or something?”

 

Keith’s face exploded into a deep red hue and he slowly hunched over in his chair. Lance backtracked and went over his previous words, blushing just as furiously at the realization.

 

“Wait no- I didn’t um, didn’t mean it like that.”

 

“It’s, fine.”

 

Now the atmosphere was both tense from the fight and weird from whatever that shitshow of a conversation was.

 

“Just. We’re stopping on a planet with air in a half an hour.”

 

Lance nodded even though Keith wasn’t looking at him.

 

“The planet is technically safe for you to walk around on, but you don’t have armor or anything. The civilization on this planet is filled with pirates and stuff so I think you should stay behind.”

 

Lance scowled.

 

“No way.”

 

“No, Lance listen. I think you should stay behind because someone might try to steal the Black Lion while I’m gone. If you stay, you can call me if anyone approaches.”

 

Lance grumbled, “What so, I gotta play babysitter?”

 

“I mean, I guess? More like protector, but with a lot less confrontation.”

 

That surprisingly did not make Lance feel better and slid further against the wall, muttering to himself. He sighed and decided to nap for the rest of the time until they got to the planet. He was asleep in no time at all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello hello!
> 
> I will art for this fic up on my tumblr in a bit. Either like tonight or tomorrow night.  
> https://silvaniuous.tumblr.com/
> 
> Also, here's another fic I did! It's completed:  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/15373776/chapters/36515094


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Babysitting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyone know how to get links to work on ao3? I've tried the hyper link command text and it doesn't work. The links are underlined, but if you click on them it doesn't go anywhere.

 

A hand glided softly through Lance’s bangs. Lance unconsciously pressed his face unto the hand and grunted when the motion stopped. A hand started to shake his shoulder. Disgruntled, Lance blinked his eyes open and yawned, slowly sitting up. 

 

Keith was sitting next to him. As Lance turned to sleepily look at him, Keith spoke softly to him.

 

“You’ve been asleep for like 2 hours Lance.”

 

Lance made a soft noise of confusion before settling back down, evidently tired from his long nap. 

 

“Seriously, I need to get going. Wake up c’mon.”

 

Lance scrunched his nose.

 

“Weren’t you s’posed to leave like an hour and a half ago?” Lance mumbled into his pillow.

 

“Well yeah, but like I said, you had to sleep for 2 hours and I didn’t want to leave while you were still asleep. Which by the way, I need you to- are you falling back asleep? Stop, wake up man!”

 

Keith grabbed Lance’s shoulder and began violently shaking him. Lance huffed and growled at him, snatching the blanket and tugging it farther up his shoulder. 

 

“Lance, seriously, I need you alert.”

 

Lance grunted one more time in an act of defiance before slowly sitting back up and glaring at Keith. 

 

“Great, now do you remember what you’re supposed to be doing while I’m gone?”

 

“Babysitting?”

 

“Yes, contact me with the comm system at the front if you see literally anyone but me. If I’m approaching alone, don’t let me in unless I give you a thumbs up. Thumbs down, and I’m in trouble ok?”

 

“Yeah yeah, I get it.”

 

Lance waved a hand in the air dismissively before standing up fully and moving towards the front. Keith grabbed a bag in the corner, gave a half-assed salute, and exited the lion. Lance watched his silhouette run towards the horizon before turning around and promptly looting the space to see what Keith was hiding.

 

What he found was, basically nothing. It was odd. Whatever Keith’s goal was, he didn’t have much physical evidence of anything to show for it. Lance found an abundance of food, which was a little alarming considering that Keith intended this trip to be a long one. Lance also found that Keith had stuffed Lance’s PJs in a side compartment, and that Keith had packed literally no other clothes than what Lance was wearing and his armor. 

 

Gross. Did the Lion have a washing machine?

 

Lance sat back down in the chair in the front, absentmindedly swaying the chair back and forth. 

 

Lance considered himself very skilled at theories and strategy and all that junk, but he had absolutely no idea what Keith was planning. What he was most confused by was two things: Why hadn't Keith told him yet? Why had Keith kidnapped Lance in the first place?

 

When Lance approached him that night, he was assuming Keith was leaving for the blade again. Why had Keith just ran with that and left? It’s not like Lance could’ve really stopped him, and his cover for whatever secret nonsense this is would’ve been kept too.

 

Was Keith just dumb?

 

Lance shook his head, then realized he was alone and felt a little silly. He decided that no, Keith was impulsive but not dumb. There must have been some significance to Keith forcibly bringing Lance along.

 

A loud bang outside startled Lance out of his thoughts. He turned suddenly to look out the windows to find a small crowd of some rough individuals gathering outside. The loud “bang” was evidently a large weapon a tall one in the front was jamming against the entrance to the maw of the lion.

 

“Fuck,” Lance whispered quietly. He was too distracted. He should’ve seen them coming from a mile away.

 

Lance lept into action, immediately informing Keith over the comms of the situation before striding over the cockpit to load up the black lion’s defenses. 

 

The Black Lion didn’t respond. Fuck this accursed, stupid, stubborn lion. 

 

“Really? You’re getting actually fucking attacked by pirates but you’re too high and mighty to let me turn on your defenses? Seriously?”

 

The Black Lion stayed unresponsive, but Lance heard a small muttering in his head. 

 

_ My paladin is coming back soon and will handle the situation. I don’t need to do anything. _

 

“Oh yeah, ‘cus Keith has such a  _ great _ track record of handling situations. It’s too late! He’s not gonna make it back in time.”

 

Scoffing, Lance turned to deal with the pirates himself apparently. He quickly locked all the doors on the ship (something he didn’t need permission from Mr. Pretentious for) before turning away from the main control panel. Sliding into the belly, he started searching for any weapons, anything at all. 

 

He pushed some heavy cargo in front of the doors, and made some cover for himself near the end of the hall. Pulling out a small gun they had stolen from the galra, he positioned himself behind his makeshift cover before going over his supplies.

 

He had one medium-sized gun with half a cartridge sitting near his feet, and a small pistol with two cartridges in his hand. There were about 20 pirates outside that were about to break in and he had about 5 extra shots that he could actually miss.

 

Lance breathed out, “It’s fine, it’s cool. Keith will be here soon or whatever.”

 

His eyebrows pinched together when he heard a sickening crunch of metal near the front of the ship. They were here, and he was alone.

 

His gun was immediately focused on the front in anticipation. A moment or two passed before a large thump was sounded off in the front. The cargo was pretty effective at holding them back, but Lance knew it wouldn’t last long.

 

The first alien poked his head threw and Lance immediately head-shotted him back into the previous room. A couple cries of surprise rose up from the chamber and Lance smirked for a second before focusing again.

 

Two people burst through the doors and Lance got one down and injured the leg of the other one. He crawled quickly into cover and Lance was out of range momentarily. A gun turned the corner of the entryway and he ducked behind his own cover for just a second before popping out the other side and ending the injured enemy.

 

Eventually, they all stupidly trickled into the room in groups of one or two, and Lance had little to no problems.

 

However a group of actually got their wits about them and burst into the room in a party of five. Lance grabbed the shoulder of one and the head of another before he crouched behind cover.

He heaved a breath and strategized for a moment, listening to the shots and the shuffle of feet behind him. 

 

He sat peacefully for just a moment before realizing that only three guns were shooting. The one he grabbed in the shoulder shouldn’t be down yet so-

 

He stilled when he heard a heavy step from directly behind his cover. He quickly darted to the side and shot up piercing the alien in the chest. He bent down for cover once again, but a bullet nicked his side. 

 

Adrenaline filled his blood and he could hardly feel it, but he knew it was just a scratch anyway. Turning quickly, he waited for a brief reloading sequence in the gun to the left before popping out and effectively doing away with the remaining three.

 

He sat up, satisfied, before smugly blowing invisible smoke off the top of his gun and tucking into his belt.

 

A large bang echoed from the other room and his eyes widened before ducking behind his cover once again. 

 

“More? Fucking more of them?” He glanced and looked with dismay at his small amount of ammo left. He only had about three more shots on the small pistol. He sucked in a breath and peered around the corner to watch the entrance.

 

“Jesus Christ, are these guys all dead?!”

 

Oh, it was just Keith. Lance stood up and quickly resumed his smug position, hoping to impress Keith. 

 

“Fuck. Fuck, fuck fuck fuck, Lance? Lance?! Lance are you ok?”

 

Keith burst into the chamber, his face instantly twisting at the sight in front of him.

 

“Oh, so you’re fine then.”

 

Lance slouched a little bit, glaring at Keith.

 

“ _ Oh, so you’re fine then.’  _ That’s all you have to say? Not something like ‘ _ Oh, Lance, you took down an entire squad of pirates? Oh Lance, you single-handedly saved the black lion while I was taking a relaxing walk through a field of flowers? _ ” Lance said mockingly.

 

Keith scrunched up his face for a second and opened his mouth to say something dumb before stopping suddenly. His eye widened and he narrowed in on Lance’s side.

 

“You’re bleeding.”

 

“Hm? Oh this. Yeah it’s no big deal.”

 

Keith wasn’t deterred however and began stepping over the aliens to get to Lance faster.

 

“You don’t know that. You’re probably high off of adrenaline right now. Go sit in the front.”

 

Lance scoffed before trudging his way over to the control room and plopping his bloodied-ass self into the pilot’s seat.

 

Keith followed a few moments later with an altean medkit and kneeled before Lance. He assessed Lance’s side before gently swiping with a wipe at the wound. It was definitely supposed to sting a lot more than this which was a little concerning.

 

“Ok. Alright,” Keith’s face scrunched up for a second, “Thank you for taking care of the pirates. That was pretty badass… I guess."

 

Lance beamed down at Keith.

 

“Thank you! I know. Now I don’t mean to alarm you, but I can’t feel what you’re doing and I feel like I shouldn’t be numb from adrenaline anymore.”

 

Keith’s face whipped up to stare at him, apparently very alarmed despite Lance telling him not to be.

 

“You... can’t feel me giving you stitches?”

 

“Is that what you’re doing?”

 

“Fuck, something's wrong. Lance-”

 

“I’m gonna pass out real quick, give me a second.”

 

“Fuck Lance no don’t-”

 

Lance slumped over in his seat, effectively ruining the stitches, and landed on Keith before slipping into darkness.

 

~~~

 

Lance felt the ground move from beneath him. He slowly opened his eyes and peered at the black interior of the cockpit. He shifted his head to the front and saw the black lion leave the atmosphere of a planet which caused the whole ship to vibrate roughly.

 

Bored of looking out the window, Lance observed that he was not sleeping on the floor. Keith must have dragged the mattress from the back room into here. Where was Keith anyway?

 

He glanced down the edge of the bed to find Keith curled up on the floor, wrapped up in a blanket. A medkit was sitting nearby and a knife was positioned even closer.

 

Lance smiled softly at him for a second before turning back to look at his lower abdomen. He pointedly observed that he was shirtless. The stitches looked alright, if not a little swollen. Understandable. Keith isn’t any high-end medic or anything. The area around the wound was heavily bruised however which didn’t make much sense since-

 

Oh right. He hadn’t been feeling any pain or anything, then he’d forcibly passed out or something beforehand. Was the bullet… poisoned? That didn’t seem right. Wasn’t poison really painful?

 

On closer inspection, the bruises looked a little weird to Lance. They were perfectly shaped in a circle around the wound. Definitely poison then. Or magic. It could be magic for all he knows.

 

Keith shifted on the floor a little and Lance turned his head to look at him. Keith’s eyes blinked a bit before he rubbed them and sat up with a yawn.

 

“Lance? You awake?” 

 

Lance nodded softly, a little too exhausted to put much effort into talking. 

 

“Well stop. You should sleep. We still have 3 more hours until it’s morning.” Keith put air quotation marks around morning which was a mannerism he must have picked up from Pidge. Adorable.

 

Lance missed Pidge. And Hunk.

 

“I’ll try, but I’m feeling kinda weird I dunno. I’m not really tired enough to sleep yet.”

 

Keith stared at Lance for a moment.

 

“Is it a bad weird? Like an ‘I’m poisoned and my body is acting funny’ kind of weird?”

 

Lance shook his head briefly before questioning,

 

“ _ Am _ I poisoned?”

 

Keith casually shrugged.

 

“Maybe? I used some altean stuff on you so you’ll probably be fine.”

 

“Your confidence on this matter is super relieving and I totally feel at ease now.” Sarcasm practically oozed from his mouth.

 

Keith rolled his eyes and turned over, settling back into his blanket.

 

“Good to hear. Now go to sleep.”

 

Lance stuck his tongue out at his backside and noticed a shiver going down Keith’s back.

 

“Dude, why are you sleeping on the floor anyway? This mattress is huge.”

 

“Cuz.”

 

“Enlightening. Get up here, stop being a nerd.”

 

Surprisingly, Keith actually stood up and made his way over to the mattress. He dragged his blanket along and settled down onto the very edge of the bed. He wouldn’t last long. Lance knew his aggressive cuddling techniques would eventually pull Keith from his edge of isolation.

 

Smirking to himself at his inner dialogue, Lance turned over to relieve pressure from his scars.

 

“Night Keith!” Lance saw the faintest ghost of a smile on Keith’s face before he answered,

 

“Shut up.”

 

Lance sighed happily before drifting off, almost missing the small “goodnight” given a couple seconds later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for waiting so long you guys! Sorry this took soooo long, but I think I've got a good direction going for this fic now so it'll get easier to update in the future.
> 
> Here's another fic I'm proud of:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/15373776/chapters/35675493
> 
> And another I'm about to finish:
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/16139477/chapters/37708670
> 
> And my tumblr:
> 
> https://silvaniuous.tumblr.com/


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance is really feeling it Mr. Krabs.
> 
> How's that for a chapter description? :/
> 
> Lance is started to get more sick as time progresses and Keith starts to have some second thoughts on their little adventure.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> welp. I have no excuse for myself. I'm sorry this is late, but I'm a failure, and season 7 was soul-crushing.
> 
> There will be exactly one more chapter after this one. It might be a lil short since there ain't that much happening but hey. A conclusion is a conclusion.
> 
> I added a lot more tags ya'll! That's how it goes. I promise I won't add anything crazy like "rape" or "major character death" that would be not cool. Super not cool. But since this is steadily becoming a sick fic I thought it might be best to add some tags so :/

Lance couldn’t breathe.

 

He also didn’t know where he was.

 

Lance was choking to death in a void, with no one around to see him go. 

 

A tight grip on his arm pulled him out of the darkness and he shot awake. He sat up on reflex only to scream when his wound tore further into his side. He collapsed down panting, still unable to breathe.

 

Keith was above him and trying to tell him something, but a ring in his ears was deafening. Lance watched as Keith pressed something to his wound and his whole world swirled and shifted in response.

 

He still couldn’t breathe.

 

Lance desperately tapped his throat, hoping to wordlessly communicate that he couldn’t fucking breathe!

 

All Keith did was run his fingers through his hair and murmur something at him.

 

His wound suddenly began to pulse in pain and everything in his body reacted to it. His legs kicked for a second, and he was pulled upright. A wave of nausea overtook him and a vomited into a well-placed bucket Keith pushed into his lap.

 

He could breathe.

 

He vomited again before Keith settled him back down into the covers.

 

A cool cloth wiped his face as he caught his breath. The ringing tapered out and he glanced at Keith who was similarly out of breath nearby.

 

“Jesus Christ Lance.”

 

Lance stared for a good minute before shrugging and pulling the covers over him more. 

 

“No no no. No way. Stay awake.”

 

“I just vomited my guts out, fuck you, I’m going back to sleep.”

 

Keith shifted closer and assessed Lance’s wound some more.

 

“It’s probably best if you stay awake, just in case you need to vomit soon.” 

 

A gentle touch on his side was Lance’s only warning before Keith pressed a disinfectant further into the wound.

 

Lance clenched his jaw and grunted, trying to appear tough. His grunt petered off into a whine when the pain persisted.

 

“This is going to hurt.”   


 

“A little late shit face. Be quicker on the- FUCK STOP STOP!”

 

Keith did not stop, instead grabbing Lance’s hand for support while continuing the very painful thing he was doing.

 

“Please Keith. I am fucking begging you please stop I- fuck”

 

A few tears slipped out and Lance squeezed Keith’s hand as hard as he could. Not incredibly impressed with his own pain resistance skills, Lance shifted his head into the crook of his arm to stop his pathetic ramblings.

 

Keith relieved a little bit of the pressure and squeezed Lance’s hand back before stopping altogether.

 

“Sorry, you’re usually asleep when I do that.”

 

Lance ripped his head out of his elbow to glare at him.

 

“I was  _ trying _ to fall the fuck asleep you asshole. I was- you literally stopped me, and  _ asked _ me to- I’m going to vomit.”

 

Another well-placed bucket rocketed in front of his face.

 

Lance, shifted back once he was done and collapsed into the pillows. Keith wiped his face and walked away to grab another bucket and towel.

 

“Fuck me, what the fuck is happening.”

 

Keith glanced over his shoulder sympathetically.

 

“Well, I think either the poison from the bullet was too strong for the Altean meds to handle, or the Altean meds were too strong for you to handle. If you’re just having a reaction to the meds, then you should be fine once the wound closes up, but if it's the poison…”

 

Keith looked away, not even bothering to finish his statement. He finished packing the trash away before walking back over and placing a fresh towel on Lance’s head. He sighed and pushed his fingers through Lance’s hair soothingly.

 

“I think you’ll be fine. Right now you have a fever, and some muscle spasms occasionally, which were the symptoms listed in the Altean med manual. I’m betting this is just a bad reaction.”

 

Lance closed his eyes under the soft movements of Keith’s hand. Keith was still talking, but Lance’s mind was a muddled mess and he attempted to drift off.

 

“Lance, wait don’t fall asleep yet.”

 

Keith’s hand shook his shoulder and he lazily opened his eyes.

 

“Do you have any other symptoms I don’t know about? Like anything?”

 

Lance stared at Keith for a moment, twisting his face in thought.

 

“I dunno, I couldn’t breathe for like a good amount of time there. Also, my vision is real fuzzy or whatever. Pain? Just everywhere in general?”

 

“You couldn’t breathe?”

 

Lanced shrugged before nuzzling into the covers again.

 

“Lance, can I check your throat really quick?”

 

Goddamnit, why couldn’t Lance just get one second of sleep?

 

He opened his mouth wide, letting out a small grunt as an answer. Keith shined a small light in his face for a second before backing up and flipping through a little booklet he had lying on the floor. 

 

Lance watched him briefly, momentarily amused at Keith’s thinking face before interrupting.

 

“Can I go to sleep now?”

 

His voice was a little softer than he had meant it to be.

 

Keith looked up from the book and held Lance’s eye contact for a moment before murmuring, “Be my guest.”  

 

“Cool.”

 

Keith flipped some pages, and Lance focused on Keith’s steady breathing, drifting off soon after.

 

\--------

 

He gasped and weakly threw the covers off of himself, twisting in the sheets in an attempt to get off the bed. 

 

“Keith! Keith, Keith I’m on fire. I’m- fire oh god fuck, help me! Keith!”

 

His face was flaming but Keith’s hands were cold as he cradled Lance’s cheeks.

 

“Lance listen to me ok, you’re not on fire ok? You’re ok.”

 

“No no no no no I’m- hurts.” 

 

Lance’s tongue was clunky and he couldn’t quite form the words he wanted to.

 

“Lance look at me. You’re fine”

 

“I’m not!” Lance argued back, relieved at the feeling of his tears being wiped away. 

 

Keith sighed and pressed his forehead into Lance’s.

 

“You’re ok. Just a bad fever ok? You’re not on fire.”

 

And Keith was absolutely right because now Lance was freezing to death. He curled his hand around the blanket and tried to wrap it around himself, but his hands weren’t working right. They slipped and fell into his side and he reached for the sheets again.

 

“Let me get that ok?”

 

Keith lifted the blanket around Lance and tucked it into his side, carefully avoiding his wound.

 

“Go back to sleep ok? I have to go get some information alright? But I’ll be back soon, and I’ll even waste some energy on the shields so you don’t have to stand guard.”

 

“Leaving? But I’m dying and you’re leaving? Now?”

 

Keith’s eyes widened when Lance whined about dying, but settled into a neutral face and stroked Lance’s sweaty forehead.

 

“I’ll wait till you're asleep, but then yes, I have to go. The sooner I can wrap this up, the sooner I can get you back. You need a real pod, not these dumb medical supplies.”

 

Lance, unwillingly closed his eyes at the gentle touch, but whined a little at Keith’s words.

 

“But- dying?”

 

“Go to sleep Lance.”

 

\-------

 

In a moment of clarity, Lance opened his eyes. His head finally felt clear and fresh, and he blinked dazedly at the ceiling in response. Lance could still feel his that his body was aching and feverish, but he appreciated the peaceful moment with his clear mind.

 

“Fuck- Oh fuck you! Just die already.”

 

And to the right of Lance’s peaceful moment, was Keith bursting into the control room followed by a large group of pirates.

 

“Hey Keith.”

 

A grunt, a swing and a brief glance in his direction.

 

“Hey Lance- fuck. How are you feeling?”

 

Lance shrugged. Another pirate came from the other side of the chamber.

 

“I’m actually sane for once. Hey so- watch out, uh, behind yeah- do you need any help?”

 

Keith lifted his blade, tossing it briefly so he could flip it around to stab behind him. He dodged another swipe from the pirate in front of him before responding.

 

“Nah I’m-” another swing “-I’m fine.”

 

“Dude are you like, sure? Cuz you look pretty outnumbered right now.” 

 

As if to prove Lance’s point, three more came stumbling into the chamber. 

 

“Lance. How would I even get you a gun? What am I just supposed to-” Keith grunted and grabbed the collar of a pirate who was getting too close to Lance, dragging him back into his sword. “-just fight my way down to storage and sort through some boxes for you?”

 

“I dunno! I kinda had to when you left me alone!”

 

“Which time?”

 

“Have you left me alone any other time?”

 

Keith grunted shoving a pirate into another group entering. 

 

“Lance, where the fuck did you think all these pirates came from? Also you haven’t even been fully conscious these past couple days. I left a couple of times while you were asleep.”

 

Lance was baffled. Keith did a cool flip to the side before tripping a confident pirate. Lance was moderately impressed but remembered to be angry with Keith before accidentally complimenting him.

 

“What? What the fuck Keith? You just left me all alone while I was dying of poison?”

 

“You’re not- fuck! Don’t you guys ever give up?- You’re not dying of poison! Maybe. I’m not sure.”

 

“You’re not sure?! All the more reason not to leave me alone! What if I choked on my own vomit?”

 

Keith dodged another blow, now too distracted by the larger brute in front of him to respond to Lance. He quickly disarmed the pirate before leveling Lance with a glare.

 

“Then I- Fuck. Stop distracting me Lance!”

 

Lance pursed his lips. He coughed for a second before silently watching the action unfold. Keith really was doing ok, amazingly. Satisfied, Lance turned over and snuggled back into the sheets.

 

“Well, if you don’t need my help, then I’m just going to go back to dying of poison.”

 

A grunt, then a brief, “You’re not- whatever, night.”

 

Lance chuckled to himself before really settling down and letting his body rest.

 

\---

 

Keith wiped something cold across his forehead with a little bit more force than Lance thought was necessary. He winced on instinct and Keith muttered a small, “fuck.” before stepping away.

 

Lance slowly opened his eyes, taking in his body’s condition. His wound ached and tore at his side with every pulse of pain. 

 

“Lance? Are you awake?”

 

Lance rolled his head to look at Keith, which took a lot more effort than usual. He opened his mouth to respond but stopped when his tongue stuck in his mouth. His throat was hot and painful and it felt like acid was running in his veins.

 

Keith frowned and stared at Lance for a second before turning back to Lance’s wound. A numbing sensation filled his side and he felt the smallest pinprick of pain. His nose stung with the sharp scent of the altean disinfectant and he twisted his face at the late arrival of the disinfectant’s infamous stinging sensation. God, something was horribly wrong.

 

Keith seemed to sense Lance’s unease and gently swiped a hand through Lance’s bangs. It soothed him for a moment, but Keith was quick to turn away and continue with the next task. 

 

Lance floated away for a second, but came back when he heard a small sniffle from Keith.

 

He stared as Keith lost his composure. Keith, who was now attempting to hide his small tears from Lance, finally turned to look him in the eyes.

 

“I don’t know Lance, I don’t know how much longer I can do this.”

 

He swiped at his eyes briefly, shielding his face from view.

 

“I have to get you back, I have to, you’re too- you need a pod, I can’t. But I’m so close and I- I know that I could, you know, finish what I started but you’ll-”

 

Lance wanted so desperately to comfort him, but couldn’t seem to move his arms. He furiously tried to open his mouth to tease and soothe Keith but his tongue couldn’t wrap around the words.

 

Keith lifted his hand away, allowing it to fall to his side. 

 

“I should’ve never- grabbed you- kidnapped, fuck I don’t know. I shouldn’t have. I just thought that you would have talked me out of this if I hadn’t and I- I couldn’t. I just.”

 

He sighed and crouched down, Lance’s eyes following his every move. 

 

“Fuck. I have to bring you home. But- Just another day, I need one more day. I can’t let you-”

 

Lance huffed, reeling in shock from the sudden wave of pain bursting in his side. He loosely gripped the sheets, and twisted his body away from the ache. It hurt more the further he moved, but his instincts were taking over. 

 

He managed to gasp out a hoarse, “Keith” before slipping back into unconsciousness. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry. That's all I gots to say.
> 
> Check the top notes for more info cuz I left a lot of information there.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lance sorts out some bullshit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey!! I FINISHED, finally. :/
> 
> I hope you all enjoy! I'll be moving on to my other fics now. 
> 
> I hope you all aren't disappointed. I really didn't have that complex of a reason for Keith to leave. I know theories and stuff are fun and all, but I just really didn't plan for the mystery of why keith left to be the focus.
> 
> I wanted the focus to be on their interactions, so... yeah it may disappoint some to learn why he left.

 

Lance opened his eyes and felt fine for once. Not great, mind you, but not on the brink of death. He blinked and looked around before spying Keith curled up into his good side. It was adorable but now wasn’t the time for cuteness. It was time to cut the bullshit.

 

He tried to wiggle his arm and nudge Keith awake. He was shaky and weak and found himself out of breath from just the little motion. Keith didn’t stir.

 

Lance grumbled and pushed all the strength he had into his right arm. He attempted to shove Keith off the bed but only managed to push his face back a couple inches. This was apparently enough, however, and Keith muttered to himself before slowly waking up.

 

They stared at each other for a second, lost in a weird atmosphere they made. Lance snapped out of it quickly though and glared at Keith.

 

“You take me the fuck home right now Kogane.”

 

Keith looked like he had a rebuttal but Lance quickly moved his finger sloppily to cover his lips. His motor control wasn’t amazing though, so he mostly just managed to press a finger to Keith’s cheek.

 

“Nope! I don’t fucking care. I’m dying. No way around it. Also, you don’t look that great yourself my man.”

 

And he really didn’t. Lance could see bandages and various assortments of medical supplies absolutely covering Keith’s body.

 

“We need real pods. Real medical attention. No more bullshit Keith.”

 

Keith really looked like he was considering this absolutely stunning argument Lance just made. Feeling successful, Lance settled back into the covers and closed his eyes again.

 

“It’s not like you have to do this now. I don’t really know what your goal is Keith, but it probably can’t be that urgent. You’ll get another shot at this. I’ll even come with.”

 

Keith pressed into Lance’s side again. He let out a small sigh that Lance felt more than heard. Lance shifted his face so he could nuzzle into Keith’s hair. He was enamored by this new cuddling sensation Keith was instigating.

 

“Also, I’ve just discovered that you stink and I probably do too. I want a face mask my man.”

 

Lance said this softly into Keith’s bangs and was surprised to receive an equally as soft reply.

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“I’ve smelled worse Keith.”

 

“That’s not what I-”

 

“I know what you meant.”

 

Keith lifted his head and really looked at Lance. Keith carefully assessed Lance’s face before opening his mouth again.

 

“No, I think I should really apologize to you. I’m sorry for dragging you out here. I’m sorry for being selfish and stubborn. I shouldn’t have done so many things and I can’t believe how close I was to seriously killing you. I almost killed you Lance, don’t you understand?”

 

“Yeah, but you’re gonna take me home right? I’ll be alright.”

 

“It doesn’t matter if I can fix it Lance. It matters because it happened, because I let it happen.”

 

Lance smiled a little and carefully wove his shaky fingers through Keith’s bangs.

 

“Don’t you know that I would follow you anywhere? It’s not really your fault.”

 

Keith’s eyes widened and Lance heard his breath hitch. In all honesty, Lance hadn’t meant to say that, but his tongue wouldn’t follow his brain. He knew that it was true, but now wasn’t the right time. All of the feelings and unspoken promises between them weren’t meant to be touched until after the war.

 

Or at least that’s what Lance planned. Somewhere, along the way, Lance realized that these all-encompassing emotions were not only mutual but equally kept hidden and safe between them. There was a time and place for love, and it wasn’t during a war.

 

Lance sighed and smiled softly at Keith before frowning in concern. He continued his hand’s trek through Keith’s bangs while he waited for him to respond. 

 

Keith eventually leaned forward and gave a short peck to Lance’s lips.

 

Lance gasped, not expecting the kiss, and grasped the back of Keith’s head gently before weakly tugging him forward. They kissed deeper, passionately, tilting each other’s heads for better access.

 

It was a gross kiss in all honesty.

 

Lance hadn’t moved from the bed in a week and Keith had been too busy for hygiene. It didn’t matter much, but it still wasn’t perfect. They would get their perfect kiss once this was all over.

 

Lance, already exhausted from the motions, pulled away and chuckled a little.

 

“Gross,” He whispered in their shared little pocket of space.

 

Keith didn’t laugh but whispered a little, “Yeah,” before diving right back in. Lance let him for a bit, but couldn’t keep up anymore and had to tug him away.

 

“Keith, we have to go.”

 

Keith tilted his head up and laid a soft kiss on Lance’s forehead before pulling himself off the bed.

 

“Sleep. I’ll take us home.”

 

~~~

 

Lance startled awake after a searing pain in his side ripped through him. He gasped and clenched his jaw in pain. He turned and shouted in agony when the pain persisted and weakly called for Keith’s name.

 

“I’m sorry Lance! I’m sorry just hold on ok?”

 

Lance, dazed, turn towards his voice and found him swinging the controls to the black lion violently. Outside the cockpit was a mess of heat and gas. Clouds of destruction twisted around the frame of the lion and Lance briefly saw a Galran battleship rush by. The ship shuddered and pain once again erupted from Lance’s wound. He squirmed in the sheets and tried to push himself away from the pain.

 

“Keith! Why- what happened?”

 

“They followed us! I met with someone I shouldn’t have. Shit, I knew they were-”

 

He was interrupted by a large explosion echoing off to their right. He skillfully maneuvered the Lion away from the blast only to be confronted by another. It was aimless, and they were clearly outnumbered.

 

“Keith, we need help!”   
  
“No! I can’t- fuck, they won’t be able to pick us up yet! We aren’t close-”

 

Keith dipped the Lion sharply to avoid a head-on collision with the galra cruiser directly in front of them. Lance’s mattress slid off of its nook and collided with the floor. Lance screamed and miserably started to shake. His ears rang and his vision hazed over. He numbingly looked towards the pilot chair and saw Keith staring back at him. 

 

He felt blackness start to overtake his vision but he saw Keith’s mouth open. Lance knew he was screaming something but couldn’t hear him. Unwillingly, his eye focused on a bright streak of green followed by a streak of yellow that dashed across the front.

 

Confused, he furrowed his brow and focused on a large streak of blue that appeared to be coming closer to their position. He smiled and slipped off into unconsciousness.

 

~~~

 

Lance took a sharp breathe in as he stumbled from the pod. His arms shot out to catch himself but he found himself wrapped up in a warm embrace. He smelled honey and cinnamon before he was ripped away and lifted up into the air.

 

He briefly registered that this was probably Hunk before he was squeezed against his friend’s chest.

 

Lance opened his eyes and glanced around the med bay. Hunk was crying into his shoulder and he pulled away to look at him.

 

“Lance, oh my gosh. Oh my god. Lance!” 

 

Hunk giggled like a schoolgirl before gently setting Lance down. He’d barely regained his footing before a weight collided with his side and he collapsed. 

 

Pidge was grasping his arm and crying into his side. Lance smiled and wrapped his arms around her before attempting to stand back up. His legs were shaky but he managed to lift himself.

 

“Woah Lance, you should probably be careful there. You lost a lot of weight and muscle mass so it’s probably best if you-”

 

Lance cut Shiro off with a hug. The older man chuckled before patting his shoulder and peeling Lance off his chest.

 

“It’s good to have you back Lance.”

 

“It’s good to be back.”

 

They gently led him over to a med bay bed which he settled onto briefly before whipping his head around to peer around the room.

 

“Where’s Keith? And Allura and Coran?”

 

An awkward silence descended into the space. Shiro shifted on his feet for a bit before answering him.

 

“Well, Keith is probably still getting scolded by them. Well, mostly Allura. I think Coran is checking over his injuries. He, uh, isn’t allowed out of his room right now.”

 

“Pff- Oh my god, you grounded him?!”

 

Lance laughed and fell back against the bed. His heart felt so light. He nuzzled his face into the covers and continue to giggle at the image of Keith sitting in his room pouting.

 

Hunk started to chuckle a little and patted Lance’s shoulder for his attention.

 

“We should probably get you some food. You can see Keith afterwards.”

 

Lance nodded and lifted himself off the bed. He wobbled and Pidge caught his arm before roughly tugging him towards the door. He muttered a small, “gentle” before following his friends through the halls.

 

When he finally sat down and got his hands on some food Shiro shuffled into the seat next to him.

 

“So Lance, we were hoping you could tell us what happened out there.”

 

Lance shoveled some food into his mouth before responding.

 

“Keith hasn’t told you yet?”

 

Shiro shook his head.

 

“Well, to be honest I’m not really sure. He, uh, kinda kidnapped me? I woke up one night and followed him to the hanger. I thought he was leaving for the blade y’know? So I confronted him about it and he grabbed me. I was kinda stuck on the lion the whole time so I never really saw what he was doing. He never told me either.”

 

“I see. Well, that’s not good, because he hasn’t told us either.”

 

Lance dismissively waved his hand in the air before shoveling more into his mouth.

 

“He’ll probably open up soon. He’s just being grumpy.”

 

Hunk snorted next to him. The conversation shifted to what had happened while they were gone. Lance eagerly listened, but found himself distracted.

 

~~~

 

Keith’s door was cold to the touch, which was expected. Why was Lance hesitating?

 

After lunch, Lance elected to go talk with Keith. Hunk offered to come with, but Lance waved him off and left before anyone could interfere.

 

He slowly lifted his hand off the door and closed his fist to knock. 

 

“Lance, I know you’re there. Are you ever going to come in or what?”

 

Lance winced, and nervously shuffled into the room. He gave a pathetic little wave before settling himself down onto the chair. Keith was stretched out on the bed and lazily nodded at Lance before tilting his head back up to glare at the ceiling.

 

“They took my tablet away. And my knife. And any privileges to leave or do literally anything at all.”

 

Lance snorted and laughed at Keith’s pouting face. Keith stared at him for a second before grinning himself.

 

“Can’t you do push-ups or something?”

 

“You can only do pushups for so long before it gets boring.”

 

Lance chuckled.

 

“Only you would describe pushups as boring.”

 

Keith smiled softly at Lance, seemingly amused at Lance’s insult.

 

“Why are you sitting all the way over there?”

 

Lance huffed out a laugh before standing up and crawling into the space at Keith’s side. He tucked himself under Keith’s arm and nuzzled his face into his chest.

 

“You’re so cuddly.”

 

“You called me over here man.”

 

“Yeah but only because you looked like you wanted to.”

 

“I think you’re implying that I am more touchy-feely than you, which is like, wrong. You were all over me when I was dying of poison.”

 

Keith frowned as if considering this.

 

“Yeah good point I guess.”

 

“I always make good points.”

 

Keith hummed and settled closer to Lance, wrapping his arms around him. The blanket was, unfortunately, underneath them so it was a bit of a lost cause. Their warmth was just enough for Lance however, and he could feel himself slipping off.

 

“We should talk Keith.”

 

“I know. Let’s do it later.”

 

~~~

 

Lance slowly opened his eyes at the gentle insistence of Keith’s fingers. They slowly ran through his hair and cupped the side of Lance’s face before beginning their trek again.

 

“Mmph. What time?”

 

“I dunno. I think we slept through dinner.”

 

Lance’s stomach grumbled and he shifted over to press more firmly into Keith’s side. Keith lowered his hand and began to draw circular shapes into Lance’s back. In his sleep, Lance’s shirt had ridden up and Keith gingerly glided his fingers past the strip of skin. His hand crept a little lower, but he didn’t go much farther.

 

“Woah, take me to dinner first Keith.”

 

Lance snickered into Keith’s neck at his own joke. Keith gently pressed a kiss to Lance’s head and muttered a small, “dork,” into his hair.

 

Lance flopped onto his back and stared at Keith for a second. Keith blinked at the attention and watched as Lance contemplated his next words.

 

“You wanna talk now?”

 

Keith frowned.

 

“Keith. You really should.”

 

He let out a shaky breath and tucked himself into Lance’s neck to hide. Lance raised his hands and gently pushed through his hair, silently encouraging him to speak when he was ready. Slowly, Keith’s arms winded around his waist.

 

“I was looking for a person.”

 

Confused, Lance shifted back to look at Keith’s face. Keith avoided his eyes, fixated on Lance’s chest. 

 

“Who were you looking for?”

 

“There were rumors of someone who had piloted the black lion. Someone who was still alive.”

 

Lance brow quirked and he raised Keith’s chin so he would meet his eyes.

 

“Why were you looking for them?”

 

Keith stared at Lance, his face neutral. He expected Lance to figure it out himself.

 

“Why do you- were you looking for a replacement? For you?”

 

Keith shut his eyes as if he couldn’t bear to look Lance in the eye anymore. His face was tense and he lifted a hand to gently tug Lance’s away.

 

“Why are you so desperate to run away? Why are you always looking for other solutions? How could you possibly think that this was ok? Doesn’t our opinion matter?”

 

“I didn’t mean it like that-”

 

“What the fuck did you mean then?!”

 

Lance was almost yelling now. His mother has raised him to never yell at anyone he loved but it was getting hard to hold back.

 

“Did you think we would be ok with this?!”

 

“No, but that wasn’t really-”

 

“Important? Jesus Keith, you can’t pull shit like this.”

 

Keith opened his eyes and furrowed his brow.

 

“I had to ok?! I had to. Someone was going to get hurt and I couldn’t do that to you guys. I couldn't be responsible for that. You guys needed a leader, a real one, not a stand-in. I just had to- fuck, I didn’t want anyone to get hurt because of my fucking mistakes ok?!”

 

Lance flinched back, startled at Keith’s sudden shift in volume. He glared at Keith and lowered his voice.

 

“Tell me something Keith. Were you going to run away once this was all over? Were you going to leave after you found him?”

 

Keith shakily inhaled and shifted forward a little.

 

“Only if you asked me to.”

 

Lance sighed and wrapped his hand around the back of Keith’s head and tugged him back into place. They were both crying now as Lance shifted to fully press his face into Keith’s hair.

 

“Why are you so certain that you’ll mess up?”

 

“Why are you so certain that I won’t?”

 

Lance considered this for a moment and gently moved his hands to settle over the back of Keith’s head and shoulders.

 

“I’m not. I know you’ll mess up sometimes. But that’s what we’re here for right? I think that you’re misunderstanding what a leader is Keith. You don’t have to do everything yourself or take responsibility for everything. You also don’t have to be perfect.”

 

“Shiro always was.”

 

Lance chuckled.

 

“Nah. He really wasn’t and I think that’s the point. He would lean on us when he needed to and he would mess up sometimes. I think you just never noticed.”

 

Keith grumbled and pressed a soft kiss onto Lance’s collar bones. Lance snuck a hand down to cup Keith’s cheek and slowly tilt him up for a kiss.

 

Keith hesitated for a just a moment before gently pushing back. The kiss gradually became deeper and Keith shuffled to fully rest on top of Lance. Lance wound his arms around him before threading his fingers into his hair and tugging softly.

 

Lance pulled away for a moment to catch his breath while Keith leisurely placed kisses across his jaw, gradually moving down his neck. 

 

“This is way less gross.”

 

Keith hummed into his neck before gently biting and kissing the spot. Lance gasped but pushed him back a little. 

 

“No marks.”

 

Keith raised his eyebrow.

 

“Do you want the whole castle to know?”

 

“I don’t know. Do you not?”

 

Lance frowned and considered this. He sat up and scratched his chin in thought. Keith shuffled back a little to make room but kept a hand settled on Lance’s thigh.

 

“So I guess we should talk about- let’s establish some things really quick.”

 

Keith nodded and gave Lance his full attention.

 

“Are we dating?”

 

Keith scrunched up his nose in thought.

 

“I mean, does the whole kidnapping fiasco count as a date?”

 

“Pff- No! I was like, dying of poison for half the trip. That’s a sucky first date dude.”

 

“Then I guess we’re not technically dating.”

 

“Aw man.”

 

Keith chuckled and leaned forward to press a small kiss to Lance’s nose. Surprisingly, of all the things they had done so far, this made Lance blush the most.

 

“We can go on a date later. Do you wanna be my boyfriend now?”

 

“Duh. Ok so that’s settled. Do we want to tell anyone?”

 

Keith started to push Lance back. He settled between Lance’s legs and resumed kissing his neck, mumbling his answer into Lance’s jaw.

 

“I mean, I don’t particularly care, but can you imagine all the privacy we’ll get if we  _ don’t  _ tell them?”

 

Lance stroked a hand down Keith’s bicep, squeezing gently. 

 

“Good point, but we’ll tell them eventually yeah?”

 

“They’ll find out themselves. Have you ever met them?”

 

Lance laughed and pressed his forehead to Keith’s. He pressed a kiss to Keith’s lips.

 

“One last thing.”

 

Keith grunted, a little irritated that they weren’t furiously making out already. Lance lifted a finger to poke at Keith’s chest.

 

“If you ever kidnap me again, I’m dumping your sorry ass.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm just gonna copy and paste the top notes before I go and promote my stuff so:
> 
> Hey!! I FINISHED, finally. :/
> 
> I hope you all enjoy! I'll be moving on to my other fics now. 
> 
> I hope you all aren't disappointed. I really didn't have that complex of a reason for Keith to leave. I know theories and stuff are fun and all, but I just really didn't plan for the mystery of why keith left to be the focus.
> 
> I wanted the focus to be on their interactions, so... yeah it may disappoint some to learn why he left.
> 
> \--
> 
> For those who weren't disappointed (or for those who were) here's another fic that I'm very proud of!
> 
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/15373776/chapters/35675493
> 
> Here's my tumbo :)
> 
> https://www.tumblr.com/blog/silvaniuous
> 
> Here's my undying love and affection for all of you:
> 
> <3 <3 <3!

**Author's Note:**

> So, Okay! 
> 
> Thanks for reading!!!
> 
> I try to update pretty frequently. However! Don't nag me unless it has been longer than two weeks. Then you have every right to nag me. Generally, updates fall within 2 or 3 days. This is not a precedent. I update faster the more feedback I get.
> 
> This is my tumblr:  
> https://silvaniuous.tumblr.com/
> 
> This is another fic I did, I'm very proud of it:  
> https://archiveofourown.org/works/15373776?view_full_work=true


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